Nut roast is one of my favourite dishes this time of year. I love the taste and the texture, with the contrast between the crunch of the nuts, the crispy toasted shell, and the soft, richness of the roast veg incorporated in the mix.
I didn’t make one over the recent holiday period though – traditional roast turkey and ham took centre stage on the ADK Christmas dinner table. I’ve been keen to make one, therefore, to start the New Year.
I was reading an article about the various health benefits of brazil nuts, and then discovered a special offer in Lidl for packs of them at a very reasonable price. Gradually, the idea for this dish began to form. I found a BBC Good Food recipe as a starting point and developed it from there. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?
It’s important to think about the blend of colours you want in the mix, to make it visually interesting and get the tastebuds tingling. You can see from my photos that I’ve included shreds of cavalo nero, fresh herbs and grated carrot – all seasonal and locally grown, by the way. Their green and orange stands out amongst the creamy chopped brazils, and the golden wholemeal breadcrumbs. In some places you will also spot a rich brown which comes from a secret ingredient – the Vegemite I brought back from my trip to Australia this time last year!
In a moment I’ll deal with some options to mix up the ingredients and customise it to your liking. Firstly though, here’s how I made it.
Servings
This will make about 12 generous slices, like the ones in my photo above i.e. 6 adult portions of 2 slices each.
Timings
30 mins to prepare, 30 mins to roast at 180C.
You Will Need
- a 1.5l loaf dish
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- 200g chestnut mushrooms
- 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
- 1 carrot
- a handful of fresh herbs e.g. thyme, sage, rosemary
- 100g red lentils
- 300ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp vegemite (or other yeast extract)
- 5 – 6 leaves of cavalo nero
- 100g wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 150g brazil nuts
- 2 eggs
- sea salt and black pepper
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- a handful of basil leaves
Method
- Grease and line the loaf dish. I find that using baking paper for this really helps with removing the cooked nut roast from the dish, at the end.
- Finely chop the onion, red pepper and mushrooms. I find that doing this in a food processor, with blade fitted, gets the veg to the right size pieces to meld together in a nut roast.
- Put the oil in a wok on the hob. When the oil is hot, crush in the garlic clove, followed by the finely chopped onions, pepper and mushrooms. Let it sweat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time (leave the food processor bowl and blade to one side, with no need to wash it out – you will be using it again in a moment).
- Grate in the carrot and tear in the herbs.
- Pour in the stock and tip in the lentils. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 mins so that the lentils soften and the mix thickens. Dip in the spoon of vegemite, so that it slips off the spoon into the hot liquid and dissolves into the mix.
- For the last few mins of simmering, add in the cavalo nero, cut into fine shreds.
- After 15 mins, switch off and transfer the mix to a plate. Set aside to cool for 10 mins.
- Switch the oven on at 180C. Spread the brazil nuts on a tray and place them in the oven to toast while it’s heating up.
- Put the slices of wholemeal bread into the food processor, still with blade fitted, and blitz to breadcrumbs. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- After 5 mins, remove the nuts from the oven and blitz to small pieces in the food processor. Don’t obliterate them to a powder, however – you want to retain an element of crunch!
- Add the nuts to the breadcrumbs. Then add in the slightly cooled veg and lentil mix. Finally, crack in the eggs. Give it all a really good stir so that it is fully combined. Give it a good seasoning with a grinding of sea salt and black pepper.
- Spoon the mix into the loaf dish and level the top by pressing down with the back of a spoon. Place in the oven for 30 mins.
- Remove and leave to cool for 5 mins, then invert it on to a chopping board to cool completely. It should look like my photo at the top of the post. When cool, it can be sliced with a bread knife, as shown in my other photo.
- Serve with a very simple tomato sauce, made by heating the chopped tomatoes in a saucepan, with the basil leaves torn in, until the tomatoes reduce and thicken. Grind in a few twists of black pepper.
Customise It!
Feel free to swap in other veg that is in season and/or that you have to hand. A couple of celery sticks chopped will go well, for example. You can add a combination of mixed nuts, instead of the brazils, if you wish. I’m a big fan of Vegemite, and think it adds a lot to the taste of a nut roast. I recognise, however, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, so leave it out if you wish. A few shakes of Worcester Sauce would not go amiss in its place.
According to my Spotify Unwrapped for 2023, one of my most played bands in the last year has been Leftfield. I was not terribly surprised about that, as their This Is What We Do album, that came out in late 2022, has been played a lot in the ADK Kitchen. I’ve already featured a couple of tracks from it in other posts, and here is another. This is Leftfield with Pulse.
A Different Kitchen 